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I know I told this a few times, but hey it's true. :)
Let's start me from the beginning. I bought my Vision Sprinter wading boots about 2 years ago, but used exclusively only this year. By the end of it, the soles started to "flap" and the toe enforcement got cracked. Warranty over. I still contacted Vision, because they often fix off warranty products for a reasonable fee. Now, they agreed to fix the soles for free. I sent them in.
Today, I got a package. In it, brand new pair of Sprint boots and fixed wader. Thanks Vision! Top notch customer service!

EspoonPerhokalastajat organizes fly tying evenings for the uneasy fly-fisher minds <-- It's closed season here. I missed the first evening, but got there for the second. I have to say, I always see new people there....which is good and probably means newcomers to EPK. This evening we tied three flies and they were not new to me. Nevertheless, I always learn a few tricks and Finnish words. :) Here are some photos from the evening:

Here in South-Finland, rivers are closed. It's spawning period for the red-spotted, yellow-colored (wild-)trout. I fished the last days and fishing was though (on those rivers). Generally, the water level is higher than usual... on this river, though, water was low and trout was wary. I managed to land over 15 trout and grayling. Nothing big. Still, it was fun. The cloudy weather also provided good occasions for landscape photography. Here is a first peek into those last days. Some more photos will come and I am also back to doing some more fly-tying.

I've been confined to my flat due to a knee accident. This means most of my passion for fly-fishing and exercising is "suppressed". :( Fortunately, this gave me a little time to revisit some photos that I took this year, but had no time to check and share. Here is one from a magical sunset over a very unique river. I have seen many sunsets and sunrises there, but at this sunset just everything came out right. It was summer, long days and short light "nights". There were also well balanced lights and brilliant reflections of color. Last, but not least, I was there. :) I shoot there many times, but this time persistence (read stubbornness) paid off. I hope you enjoy the photo (click for larger view):

I spent a week enjoying the unusually hot Finnish summer at the lakeside. At the beginning, I tried fly-fishing in some beautiful rivers (see photos). Eventually, I gave in, as the water temperature reached 27C. Trout were dying lack of oxygen. I changed my plans and headed a bit more North to keep myself cool in the lakes and forests. Mikkeli also provided plenty of things to see and enjoy. It was a great vacation, regardless of bad luck with fishing.
In this gallery you may see some photos from this trip orwatch here as slideshow.

Recently fishing was superb, especially during the night and early mornings. Although, we have plenty of light at those times, my casting seem to suffer. I managed to hook a branch and brake off the tip of my first fly-rod, a Vision 3-zone. The tip itself was replaced already, but now I have to make a decision to buy a new tip or retire this rod. Its ferrules are quite worn off and the rod itself seen about 7 summers. The Vision customer service is one of my favorite, they are very quick to answer, always offer solutions and not try to find excuses. I need to think about the options, buy a new tip, buy another rod, look for someone who needs the lower parts of this rod. One hand, I landed close to 500 trout on this rod and think it is part of my "fishing mojo". :) On the other hand, I could buy one of the latest Vision rods. Hmmm.

UPDATE: Of course, Vision customer service replied to my request on the same day. They could send a new tip for a reasonable amount and recommended two of their new rods. As I wrote, the rod (and model) is quite old & not sold anymore, but Vision supports their products. I had couple of bad experiences with another brand, namely they told me that no replacement available anymore and I should buy one of their other rods. So, I respect Vision for their customer service and continue buying their products. I bought one of their kit (great price / quality) and a better wading jacket. Now, it's time to cast and drift some more flies.

Taking macro photos of insects has been one of my interest. I think (and hope) that I learnt a bit during these photo sessions both about insects and about photography. When I take a closer look at these insects I often discover features, I did not know... E.g. patterns of mayfly abdomen, eyes of flies, hairy&scary look of a fly (reveals that The Fly movie was not that far-fetched), shape & texture of wings. Enjoy these photos and try your cameras macro setting when next time out. In my "Insects" gallery you find these in larger resolution (click on the photo on naturephoto.zenfolio.com to open it up in full size)

I just posted some photos of rapids I visited in the last month. I love moving water, both fishing and photographing them. It just never gets boring. :)
For more rapid photos visit my site, Naturephoto.

Today I fetched my Sigma from the service. They told me that they changed the focusing chip - read the previous blog post about Sigma's recall of certain telephoto lenses. On my way to home, I stopped to take a couple of shots of this Great crested grebe pair. The focus now works fine (no hunting) and the photos look sharp.

Due to long weekend and no fly-fishing conditions, I spent some time bird-watching and photographing (more the former). As the birds are quite far from the bird-watchtowers (I visit), only my long telephoto lens is suitable for this kind of photography.
However, a while ago I started to have focusing issues with my Sigma 120-400 OS HSM lens. It just started to hunt and even if achieved focus after about 10 secs it was often false focus. By time, the lens focusing deteriorated and during this weekend it went to non-existent. Of course, I could still shoot with manual focus, but in most cases, like hunting osprey, it was just luck or lack :).
I tried to work out in what conditions was the focus working (distance, light, aperture, ISO, etc.), but the whole thing was inconclusive.
A short consult of the mighty Internet revealed that Sigma announced some kind of design issue with their long lenses and offered fixes of those.
It is strange that the focus, in my case, deteriorated vs sudden failing. Anyway, I took the lens to the local Sigma service and they confirmed this issue. The estimated time to get the lens back is 3 days. So, I will update this blog soon and tell about my experience.

EPK has arranged a seminar with Mika Vainio (Team Manager - Vision), where Mika went through his most recommended 5 flies (It was more than 5 :)). He explained how to tie them and how to fish them. Finnish being only a second language to me, I expected to get tired of listening ;), but it went pretty good. His Finnish is pretty clear and easy to understand.
I uploaded couple of photos of Mika,the EPK club and the flies. Not all the flies, for that kind of information you should come to EPK events. ;) Only kidding. Enjoy and comment, I might upload some more.

Last spring looked quite different. Have a look at the photos attached from just one year ago. Here, spring is late! Will this mean a warm summer (or just the opposite)? Today, I do not care! I just wish to see some sunshine during the weekend.

It's soon April, which means less snowing here in Finland. Thus, it's time for tying some flies for the coming season. If you are like me, it's also time for mending your trusty flies which got weathered during last season. During the last couple of days, I have been doing both and here are some of examples. Now, I wait eagerly for opening on the ice to get these yummy flies wet. Tight lines and keep the river & bank clean!

I know this will get some reaction, but the current Catch & Release practice made me think. Are we doing any good for our fish population? (Note, I am not talking about stocked fish intended to end up on your plate!)

Catch & Release sure has pros and cons and thus followers and critics. However, as C&R is gaining popularity in every corner of this world, I wonder about those cons.We love to catch fish and C&R should facilitate this joy by allowing us catching the same fish again and again (assuming, it did not outsmart us. :D).

Let's look at this practice from the fish PoV. By stalking food looking "thingies" they exert energy. When they are hooked and played, they exert lots of energy. Bye the time they are landed, they are half dead. After all this "exercise" they are released back (hopefully after sufficient revival). Indeed, they are much worse off after the release, since they had not taken food (no calorie = no energy) but exerted energy.

Following this reasoning, we should give back! We should have "Feed & Release" practice. I know this sounds strange, but just think about carp fishing where they use antibacterial sprays on the wound caused by hooking, before they release the fish. Is there a protein spray, energy shot, or other way to give back without even more hurting the fish? Is there a way to do this? I do not know. What is your opinion?

Here are two nymphs from my fly-box, which often work over here. I chosen them for their simplicity. The Mono-Ribbed Caddis is very simple to tie, but it is still quite realistic Caddis pattern.
The other nymph, See-Through Blood Sucker :), is a favorite and it's simplicity deceived many (fish and fishermen :D). You only need three materials and less then a minute to tie this fly. Give it a try...
Remember, simple things often work & luck is an attitude! Tight lines!